View other reviews for this product:
Hatsubai « One of the few reverse headstock models »
Published on 11/18/11 at 13:54Jimi Hendrix is easily the number one, most iconic guitarist to ever play a strat. He single handedly started the double cut movement from the 60s and onwards. What he did for Fender is something that could almost never be replicated in today's world. It's a bit odd that they only had this model for a few years, and it's a shame that so few tributes have been given to Hendrix. The guitar features an alder body, a maple neck, 21 frets, dot inlays, a vintage style tremolo, three single coil pickups, one volume, two tones and a five way switch.
UTILIZATION
The guitar was pretty good in quality. The fretwork was quite nice, but I have a feeling it was fret leveled by somebody as the frets seemed to be slightly smaller than what I normally see on Fenders. The nut was also perfect in terms of tuning stability. The bridge stayed in tune on this like a champ. One thing worth noting is that the neck joint on this had a pretty decent gap going on. This can cause issues if you happen to hit the guitar against something real hard. The neck might shift, and your high e might start slipping off the neck. If this happens, you'll want to force the neck back into position while tightening the screws down.
SOUNDS
The pickups in this were decent, but they were nothing real mind blowing. The bridge was bright, and it had a medium output going on. It worked decent for mid gain, but it was too bright for cleans, and it lacked the power for high gain. Position 2 was good for cleans/funky tones. You had that standard stratty sound. Position 3 was useless to me. Position 4 was good for that typical Hendrix tone that everyone seems to know and love. The neck was decent for cleans and leads, but I was struggling quite a bit. Then again, I'm used to higher output pickups, so keep that in mind.
OVERALL OPINION
The guitar is decent, but it's nothing too exciting. That's one of the things that really irks me about Fender. They could have done a real amazing tribute to Hendrix that everyone would want to buy, but I felt they kinda dropped the ball with this guitar. It's a good guitar, but there are better ones out there.
UTILIZATION
The guitar was pretty good in quality. The fretwork was quite nice, but I have a feeling it was fret leveled by somebody as the frets seemed to be slightly smaller than what I normally see on Fenders. The nut was also perfect in terms of tuning stability. The bridge stayed in tune on this like a champ. One thing worth noting is that the neck joint on this had a pretty decent gap going on. This can cause issues if you happen to hit the guitar against something real hard. The neck might shift, and your high e might start slipping off the neck. If this happens, you'll want to force the neck back into position while tightening the screws down.
SOUNDS
The pickups in this were decent, but they were nothing real mind blowing. The bridge was bright, and it had a medium output going on. It worked decent for mid gain, but it was too bright for cleans, and it lacked the power for high gain. Position 2 was good for cleans/funky tones. You had that standard stratty sound. Position 3 was useless to me. Position 4 was good for that typical Hendrix tone that everyone seems to know and love. The neck was decent for cleans and leads, but I was struggling quite a bit. Then again, I'm used to higher output pickups, so keep that in mind.
OVERALL OPINION
The guitar is decent, but it's nothing too exciting. That's one of the things that really irks me about Fender. They could have done a real amazing tribute to Hendrix that everyone would want to buy, but I felt they kinda dropped the ball with this guitar. It's a good guitar, but there are better ones out there.